Gendered aspects of distress migration: Taking note of Rohingya voices

Vasileia Digidiki,Jacqueline Bhabha

doi:10.21825/digest.v8i2.17609

Abstract

A qualitative study conducted among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh provides empirical confirmation of two types of adverse consequence that frequently occur following distress migration: harsh and exclusionary host state policies, and exacerbation of power inequities (and related abuse) within the refugee community. This article describes research that explored the circumstances of female Rohingya refugees living in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps in Bangladesh after fleeing genocidal violence in Myanmar. The refugees describe harsh gendered aspects of their forced displacement, including limited access to needed protection and services as well as intra-community hardships exacerbated by the impact of displacement and segregation. Both sets of outcomes constitute preventable human rights violations that require redress.

Highlights

Human migration, within and across state borders, comprises about 13.3% of the world population (UN DESA, 2020 and IOM Slovac Republic, 2021)
The article draws on thick data1 gathered through Key Informant Interviews (KIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
From denial of access to basic services to persistent verbal harassment, from physical violence to sexual abuse, intimate partner violence and child marriage, gender-based violence in Cox’s Bazar is driven by an intersection of multiple factors – legal, economic, social, cultural and psychological – that are inadequately addressed by international state actors, local state authorities and humanitarian organizations

Summary

Introduction

Within and across state borders, comprises about 13.3% of the world population (UN DESA, 2020 and IOM Slovac Republic, 2021). Many factors determine its impact – positive or negative – on migrants’ subsequent quality of life This general observation applies to the subset of human migration that is forced upon people because of circumstances beyond their control. The circumstances of Myanmar’s Rohingya minority, refugees from genocidal violence in their home region of Rakhine State on Myanmar’s western coast, provide a vivid example of this negative pattern. The Rohingya Crisis, an example of local non-integration Four years after the August 2017 genocidal atrocities against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar (Human Rights Council, 2018, UNHCR, 2019a) 884.041 Rohingya refugees (UNHCR, 2021) are still living well below basic international humanitarian standards, in makeshift camps in the littoral region of Bangladesh known as Cox’s Bazar.

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Conclusion